Coast Guard Cebu gets 2 tugboats

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

THE Philippine Coast Guard Cebu improved its capability with two new tugboats for search and rescue operations, as it welcomed the arrival of a privately owned vessel equipped with devices for firefighting, salvaging and marine pollution control, the first of its kind in Cebu.

Coast Guard’s central office in Manila deployed two brand new tugboats to the Cebu station following the incident involving a Weesam Express passenger vessel that ran aground off Talisay City last Sept. 10.

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Coast Guard Cebu Station Commander Rolando Punzalan said their national office procured the 10-man capacity boats for distribution to the regional offices as part of their capability improvement. They are expecting the boats to arrive anytime.

Incident

“It was deployed to Cebu just after the Weesam incident happened so it was timely… We did not ask for it but the national office is aware of the risk level here in Cebu. It was their decision to deploy two tugboats here,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.

Coast Guard Cebu drew criticisms from Wees­am Express passengers for its allegedly delayed rescue operations, which Punzalan said was not true.

Mishaps

With only one functioning search and rescue boat and two tugboats, Punzalan said the two new boats will help them a lot and can be used for major search and rescue operations, shoreline patrol and in responding to minor sea mishaps.

He also welcomed the services offered by Golden Star Manning and Ship Management Corp., which recently acquired M/Tug Anlucia, a 30-meter tugboat equipped with fire hydrants and hydraulic movable crane devices.

It is also equipped with marine pollution control devices such as the oil separator, oil spill boom, oil spill rigger and dispersant.

Apart from its firefighting and pollution control capability, Anlucia is also used for salvaging and hauling vessels stranded at sea.

“In case any vessel or buildings along the coastline catches fire or there is an oil spill, we can be contacted from anywhere since the boat is also equipped with satellite communication devices. We can go as fast as 30 knots, which is the standard speed for rescuing,” said Capt. Antonio Sulay, president of Golden Star.

Demonstration

The company held a demonstration of the different capabilities of the tugboat at the Mactan Channel yesterday, which Coast Guard officers attended.

Although the boat is privately owned, Punzalan said they can tap the company to help in search and rescue and disaster response, since Golden Star is a Coast Guard Auxiliary.

When the Weesam Express vessel ran aground and passengers had to be rescued off the coast of Talisay, Coast Guard personnel used Golden Star’s M/Tug Anros to reach the shallow area where the vessel was stranded.

Expertise

“This (Anlucia) has the most advanced capability among the tugboats here in Cebu, so it’s a welcome asset in the auxiliary of the Coast Guard. When coordinating force multipliers, it’s not just the human expertise that is important. Equally important are the floating assets,” Punzalan said in an interview during yesterday’s demonstration.